Centre for Policy on Ageing



Weight change in old age and its association with mortality
Author(s)	Anne B Newman, David Yanez, Tamara Harris
Journal title	Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 49, no 10, October 2001
Pages	pp 1309-1318
Keywords	Age groups [elderly] ; Weight ; Death ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	Previous studies of weight change and mortality in older people have relied on self-reported weight loss, have not evaluated weight gain, or have had limited information on health status. The objective was to determine whether 5% weight gain or loss in 3 years was predictive of mortality. In the 4,714 participants age 65+ from the US Cardiovascular Health Study, weight changes occurred in 34.6% of women and 27.3% of men, with weight loss being more frequent than weight gain. Weight loss was associated with older age, black race, higher weight, lower waist circumference, current smoking, stroke, any hospital admission, death of a spouse, activities of daily living (ADL) disability, lower grip strength, and slower gait speed. Those with weight loss and low baseline weight had the highest crude mortality rate. The study confirms that even modest decline in body weight is an important and independent marker of risk of mortality in older people. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-011115220 A
Classmark	BB: 4X6: CW: 3J: 7T
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.